Otherverse Games

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

For about a year now, Amanda Webb has been publishing her webcomic, Legends of Aukera.

http://legendsofaukera.com/2015/07/27/pg114/

She recently published a trade paperback collecting the first story arc, in which in addition to the previously seen material, she included design art and an original 8 page back up story. I'll have a similar 8 pager story in the second trade paperback volume. She's almost done with the story. She's got the first 5-6 pages inked, colored and lettered, page seven waiting on lettering, and 8 awaiting illustration. She told me the second TPB will be printed and ready for sale sometime in mid-October, in time for a local comic con- the Grand Rapids Comic Con.

Tuesday, July 28, 2015

Okay, I just put up book two in a series of bestiaries for the Psi-Watch Campaign Setting. Psi-Threats Book 2: All the Agents just went up for sale on Rpgnow, and seems to be selling better than the first one.

All the Agents was a ton of fun to write. It's a nice collection of modern/superheroic assassins, spies and superagents, inspired heavily by comics like Stormwatch, Wild CATs, Bloodstrike and the like. I'll be doing volume 3 in the series soon enough- anything you want to see?

In addition to the cover, I wanted to post one of my favorite pieces of interior art. John Picot did this illustration of the Metamorphosis North V-Elite- a heavily armed air superiority cyborg type. After that, we've got a cool Anthony Cournoyer image, Fatality. He's a mixed tribute to Raiden from Mortal Kombat and Kaon (from IDW's More than Meets the Eye series), who'll be appearing in Rapists of Black Tokyo as well as in future Battlechangers products.
CHRIS

Friday, July 17, 2015

Okay, I've had a few fans as well as some of my artists ask me if I ever planned to consolidate Fursona and its follow-up releases, and do some more stuff with it?

I'd been hesitant, because of all the work I'd have to do to update the orders, the long-ass lists of favored and non-favored major racial traits. Ugg. Just book keeping on top of book keeping. So I'd been putting off doing a Fursonaupdate, despite the fact that it's one of my best-selling and most popular products, because I knew it wouldn't be really fun for me to do. Well, I got to thinking of how I converted Battlechangers to Pathfinder. Instead of long ass lists of alt modes, I made a modular 'build your own' alt-mode creation system and it worked great. Well received, fun to write, easy to play with. So why not do the same for Fursona? Ditch the whole concept of Orders and racially favored major traits? Make char-gen a little quicker, include all or at least most of the options from the prior 3-5 Fursona releases (depending on what you count as part of that subline)? Even better, by cutting the bulky list of orders, I leave more room in the book for world-building information, furry story telling tropes, spells, gear, and other fun toys?

Well, lets take a look at a very rough draft of what I'm calling Ultimate Fursona. Consider this an open call for playtest. I've got a rough but usable text document that'll feed in the book. As of this morning,it has a good number of racial options, though I haven't ported in everything from the prior books yet, by any means. Right now, its all crunch, no real flavor text or world info. However, if you want to take a look at the rough draft and make some comments or ask questions, please email me at chrisfieldotherverse@hotmail.com Please put Ultimate Fursona Playtest in the subject line and I'll be happy to send you a rough draft, or hear your suggestions or just generally shoot the shit. So lets take a look at some of the Ultimate Fursona racial write up. This isn't everything I've written yet, by any means, but should give you an idea of where I'm going with this racial sourcebook. CHRISBegin Excerpt.....

Ultimate Fursona is a complete and comprehensive revamp of
the most popular, D20-based furry character creation system ever written!
Building furry heroes with Ultimate
Fursona is quicker, easier and more flexible than ever before. A new
character creation system reduces book-keeping, pares down a lot of unneeded
rules text, and allows for deeper, multi-faceted anthropomorphic characters.
Hybrid creatures, blending the traits of multiple animal species, are easier
than ever to imagine.

Where the first edition of Fursona defined anthropomorphic
characters by their Order (the species type they belonged to), Ultimate Fursona
allows for a more modular character creation. Players choose a unique ability
score package for their furry hero or heroine, based on its animal nature. Size
is chosen similarly, allowing for everything from Tiny rodent rogues to Huge
elephant clerics. Finally, the player chooses several Gifts of Nature for their
anthro, the amount of which is determined by the anthro’s size. Disadvantages
allow the acquisition of additional Gifts of Nature, while optional templates
offer further opportunities for customization.

Anthros

Tiny
to Huge Humanoid (Anthro)

Anthros aren’t simply one species.
Instead, the term is an umbrella for a variety of mostly interfertile, highly
adaptable and exuberant hominids with bestial traits and a partially
animalistic appearance. Anthros hail from every corner of the multiverse. Some
Anthro bloodlines are products of science: genetic uplifts from animal stock,
while others are creatures of parallel evolution on distant world, or mystical
hybrids created by sorcery.

Regardless of their origins,
Anthros marry the natural instincts and survival adaptations of the animal
kingdom with the cunning and intellect of humanity.

The typical Anthro (if there is such a thing), is roughly
human-sized and shaped. They have animalistic skulls, though sometimes the
muzzle is shortened, giving the Anthro a somewhat more human profile. A pelt
usually covers every inch of their bodies, with the exception of the palms of
their paws and their genital region. Fur coloration, thickness and texture
varies wildly, and sometimes colors and patterns never seen in nature emerge on
the fur. Anthro tigers with thick, soft pelts of green and gold aren’t unknown,
nor are magenta rodents, nor songbirds with ice blue plumage that glows a cold
cobalt. While fur is the dominant skin covering for Anthros (hence, the race’s
most common slang epithet: furry),
other bloodlines might boast colorful plumage, a variety of reptilian and
piscine scales, or even a chitin exoskeleton.

Anatomical details vary wildly between subspecies, and
sometimes, even between individual families within an extended bloodline. For
example, some Anthro females display a pair of human-like mammae, while others
might suckle their young from a double line of small nipples running the length
of their abdomen. Additionally, many Anthros have dog-like, digitigrade legs,
while other breeds have a basically human shin and ankle structure. Other
anatomical quirks, too many to ever catalogue, differentiate rival Anthro
bloodlines.

Anthros tend to be somewhat vain, and are usually proud of
their bodies. Most dress stylishly, often mimicking human fashion (or the
fashions of another culturally dominant humanoid race), modified to fit Anthro
anatomy of course. Out of necessity, most Anthro clothing includes straps,
snaps and slits to accommodate wings, tails and other appendages. Ordinary
clothing is easily modified, and Anthro armorers are skilled at customizing
even full plate for the needs of their kind, but on high tech worlds, finding
specially modified powered armor and space suits designed to accommodate a
long, fluffy tail or impressive rack of antlers can be a struggle.

Biology and Reproduction

Though different
species, most breeds of Anthros are similar enough they can interbreed
successfully. In most cases, the hyperfertile Anthros are also capable of
bearing viable offspring with baseline humans, and possibly with other humanoid
races, such as Elves.

Most Anthros reproduce
in typical mammalian faction, giving birth to live young after a pregnancy
lasting between six and ten months. Usually, multiple births are the norm.
Egglaying Anthros, including amphibian and reptilian ‘scalies’, insectoid
‘clickies’and avian species produce
clutches of up to a dozen eggs, of which varying numbers come to term.

Multiple Anthro species
experience a mating or rutting season, during which time they experience a
nearly perpetual arousal as well as hyper-fertility. Out of season, Anthros can
enjoy sex for pleasure, but when they enter their heat period, the urge to mate
can become nearly overwhelming. Older Anthros control their desire through
experience and willpower, but younger Anthros are edgy, distracted and prone to
violent displays to improve their place in the sexual pecking order.

As a people, Anthros
tend to be very sexually open, with few of the sexual taboos common among
non-furred races. Most of their taboos are fairly common-sense
prohibitions against crimes like rape and incest, rather than complex ethical
prohibitions. Depending on the
individual, sexual attitudes can range from wanton exhibitionism to a simple
confidence and acceptance of their own desires.

Anthros tend to be
widely accepting of homosexual and cross-species relationships. Sexual
exploration and sequential monogamy, especially among young Anthros are
accepted, and polyamorous relationships are perfectly acceptable among most
breeds. Harem relationships and pack-based family structures are common among
species as diverse as great cat Anthros and bee or other eusocial insect
Anthros.

As most Anthro
bloodlines are cross fertile, hybrids are extremely common. Hybrid Anthros are
usually the same phenotype as the mother, but often display elements of their
father’s phenotype. For example, the son of a canary Anthro mother and a stag
Anthro father might be a golden feathered avian distinguished by short, blunt
horns rising from his forehead. Pelt or body coloration and patterning changes
in complex, often unpredictable ways when breeding across Anthro breed-lines.

The one thing
virtually guaranteed in hybrid births is that the offspring will be even more
beautiful, vibrantly colored and strange, then their already beautiful parents.
Intentionally breeding for hybrid beauty and vigor is common among some noble
bloodlines, and many Anthro families consider themselves amateur eugenicists.

Lifespan

Most Anthro breeds live and die in less than a century, and
mature at a similar rate to baseline human children. Smaller breeds, such as
rabbit and songbird Anthros, live shorter lives and mature much faster than
other Anthros. Conversely, Anthros from truly massive species, such as whales,
elephants and tortoise breeds can live for several centuries. A very few Anthos,
usually products of cutting edge genetic engineering or potent magic, have
pronounced healing gifts that make them virtually ageless and immortal.

Military

Anthros can be exceedingly war-like, expansionistic and
brutal, or they can be committed pacifists. Anthro warriors take full advantage
of their natural gifts: compared to humans, they tend to be larger, stronger,
and equipped with natural weapons. Most tend to be faster or more agile as
well. More exotic gifts, ranging from winged flight to mystical abilities like
invisibility or psi-talent are displayed by a few bloodlines, and taken full
advantage of by those lucky Anthros.

Anthros are pragmatic and tactically clever. They take full
advantage of their natural gifts when they fight, and prefer to choose a
battlefield that gives them the advantage rather than fighting on an enemy’s
terms. Most are especially comfortable in the native terrain of their animal
forebears, and fight most fiercely there.

Anthros are equally adept at fighting in species-segregated
units (such as entire legion of tiger Anthro mercenaries, or a platoon’s worth
of fast moving lapine scouts) or in mixed units. Most can get along well with
other Anthro breeds, and in the rare occasion they can’t, detailed
Anthro-specific laws lay out how predator and prey species interact. (In mixed
breed Anthro societies, the necessity of such laws is obvious.)

Language

Anthro characters begin play speaking the most common
language in the campaign (often Common, English, Galactic Common or Japanese)
and one of several Anthro-specific dialects. Anthro languages have migrated
across the multiverse, with only relatively small regional differences between
realities. These Anthro languages are all considered part of the same
linguistic family. The most common Anthro languages are:

·Furroar: An
aggressive, linguistically brutal dialect of Fursong, this language
incorporates howls, roars and other aggressive sounds. Popularized by wolf and
ursine Anthros and other predatory breeds.

·Fursong:
A hissing, breathy language based on the vocalization of cats (with occasional
growls or barks for emphasis). The most common tongue among feline anthros, but
also common among mammalian anthros of all sorts.

·High
Chirp: A rapid-fire string of whistles, chirps and caws, sung in a high
pitch. Popular among avian and some insectoid anthros, and even some bat
anthros have learned to sing the language. This melodious language is popular
among anthro singers of all breeds.

·Skale: A
low, throaty and guttural language preferred by reptilian and draconic anthros.
Has some linguistic similarities to Draconic and shares some vocabulary.

Anthro characters with high INT
scores may choose any language, except for secret languages like Druidic, as
bonus languages.

Anthro Names

Anthro Religion

Anthro Racial
Traits

All Anthros have the following racial traits.

Size and Type

Anthros are Humanoids
with the Anthro subtype.

Optional Players may give their Anthro an additional subtype
appropriate to its origins, if desired. For instance, a cobra Anthro might have
the Reptilian subtype, or a human/coyote hybrid might have the Human subtype.
Players are not required to give their Anthros an additional subtype.

Players choose their Anthro’s size at character creation.
This size determines many of the Anthro’s physical characteristics. These
include the character’s base land speed, reach and number of Gifts of Nature
allowed, as well as the damage inflicted by their natural weapons.

Game Master Note

The GM is free to restrict Anthro characters to a particular
size range, as Tiny and Huge characters might be considered unbalanced in most
standard campaigns.

Anthro’s Size Category

Anthro’s Base Landspeed

Anthro’s Reach

Anthro’s Natural Weapons
(claw/hoof)

Anthro’s Natural Weapon
(gore)

Gifts of Nature

Tiny

10 ft

0 ft

1d3+STR (20/x2)

1d6+STR (20/x3)

Three

Small

20 ft

5 ft

1d4+STR (20/x2)

1d8+STR (20/x3)

Four

Medium

30 ft

5 ft

1d6+STR (20/x2)

1d10+STR (20/x3)

Four

Large

40 ft

10 ft

1d8+STR (20/x2)

1d12+STR (20/x3)

Three

Huge

40 ft

15 ft

1d10+STR (20/x2)

2d6+STR (20/x3)

Two

Natural Weapons (EX)

All Anthros possess some form of natural weapon, provided by
evolution.

Shippers receive two natural weapon attacks as primary
natural attack forms. These either take the form of two claw attacks (slashing
damage) or two hoof stomps (bludgeoning damage). Damage is based upon the
Anthro’s size.

Alternatively, the Anthro can select a single gore attack
that inflicts piercing damage based upon size, in the case of horned
(rhinoceros) or antlered (deer, elk) derived Anthro species.

Anthros are such a radically diverse assortment of
creatures, with an equally diverse range of talents. Pick one ability score
package for your Anthro; once chosen, this choice cannot be changed.

Optional You can also roll D8 to see what your ability score
package suggests, if you need inspiration about what kind of Anthro you’ll build,
and then select Gifts of Nature that mesh well with this concept.

(1) Adaptable

+2 to any ability score of choice. Anthros like this can
excel in a wide variety of situations and environments.

(2) Chase Predator

+2 DEX, -2 CON, +2 WIS. These Anthros are nimble and have
keen senses, but a hot-running metabolism saps their vitality.

(3) Domesticated

-2 STR, +2 INT,
+2 CHA. These Anthros are clever and likable, but bred to be physically frail.

(4) Enduring but Dim

+4 CON, -2INT.
These Anthros can work all day without breaking a sweat, but aren’t the
sharpest claw in the paw.

(5) Instinctual
Hunter

+2 STR, -4 INT,
+2 WIS. This feral Anthro gets by with instinct and a healthy capacity for
violence rather than book learning or rational thought.

(6) Tough and
Ponderous

+2 STR, -2 DEX, +2 CON.
These Anthros are incredibly strong and healthy, but a bit slow and clumsy.

(7) Trickster

+2 DEX, -2 CON, +2 CHA. This Anthro gets by on guile and
charm, but doesn’t know the meaning of hard work.

(8) Quick Witted

-2 STR, +2 INT,
+2 WIS. The Anthro learns fast and has good senses, but isn’t a hard hitter by
any means.

Choose Your Gifts of Nature

Gifts of Nature are the innate
powers that Anthro heroes are blessed with. These gifts can range from a boa
constrictor Anthro’s crushing hug, to a falcon Anthro’s powerful wings, or a
Clydesdale Anthro’s speed and steel-crushing kick. Players choose a number of
Gifts of Nature determined by their Anthro’s size. Players wanting more Gifts
can choose Disadvantages, which allow them to select additional powers beyond
the usual limit.

Most Gifts of Nature count as a
single gift. If there’s no other notation in the ability write-up, that trait
counts as just one Gift. If a particularly powerful gift counts as two or more
Gift of Nature selections, that’s noted in the ability’s description.

Standard Monster Abilities as Gifts of Nature

The following standard racial
abilities can be chosen as Gifts of Nature.

Alignment Subtype (any)

All Around Vision

Anthro Senses (gain Scent
and Darkvision 60 ft)

Aquatic (gains Aquatic
subtype, ability to breathe water and a Swim speed equal to base land speed)

You may purchase the same 1st or
2nd spell- or psi-like ability multiple times to gain additional
daily uses, or purchase different versions of these Gifts, representing
different spell- or psi-like abilities.

Spell Resistance 10+level or Hit
Dice (counts as 2 Gifts)

Starflight (counts as 2
Gifts)

Stability

Stench (can activate or
deactivate Stench as a move action)

Stonecutting

Tremorsense 60 ft

Web

Other Gifts of Nature

This is an alphabetical list of
additional Gifts of Nature, which might range from something as simple as a
venomous bite to wild powers as wondrous as teleportation. Unless specifically
stated otherwise, you cannot take the same Gift of Nature more than once.

Caster/Manifester Level

Unless otherwise noted, if a Gift
of Nature is a psi-like or spell-like ability, your caster level/manifester
level is equal to your total character level.

Anthro Aptitude (EX) Your half-animal nature gives you an edge when you need it most.

Once per day, you may activate
Anthro Aptitude as an immediate action, to receive either a +1d12 competence
bonus on a skill check or saving throw, or a +1d6 competence bonus on an attack
roll or combat maneuver. You may declare the use of this ability after the roll
is made, but before the results are revealed. However, you may only activate
Anthro Aptitude when performing a feat appropriate to animals of your species.

The gamemaster has the ultimate
authority whether or not a particular action would be appropriate to your
animal type. If the action isn’t appropriate, this ability does not activate,
and remains usable later.

Some examples:

An action that would always be
appropriate. “I’m a wolf Anthro, I use Anthro Aptitude on a Survival
check to find food.” “I’m a sugar glider Anthro, I use Anthro Aptitude on a Fly
check.” “I’m a tiger Anthro, I use Anthro Aptitude with my melee attack.”

An action that’s probably
appropriate. “I’m a beaver Anthro so I use Anthro Aptitude on a Craft
(carpentry) check.” “I’m a stubborn mule Anthro, so I use Anthro Aptitude on my
next WILL Save.” “I’m a eagle Anthro, and I use Anthro Aptitude on my Pilot
check.”

An action that’s only appropriate
if the player can justify it, and the GM agrees. “I’m a black bear
Anthro, and since they’re healers in some Native American myths, I’m going to
use Anthro Aptitude on this Heal check.” “I’m a turtle Anthro and I want to use
Anthro Aptitude on an attack roll with my katana. We both grew up in the 80s,
so come on, dude.”

No way! “I’m a ferret
Anthro, and since ferrets are really smart animals, I’m using Anthro Aptitude
on a Knowledge (physical sciences) check to disarm this suitcase nuke.”

Asymetric Weapon (EX)

Requires Natural Weapons (claws), Pincer trait

One of your natural weapons is
massively oversized and deadly, like the dominant claw of a fiddler crab. The
natural weapon (claw) on your dominant hand threaten a critical hit on a
natural 18-20 and inflict x3 damage on a critical hit.

However, the bulk of your enlarged
claw or pincer limits your manual dexterity. You suffer a -2 racial penalty on
checks involving fine manipulation with your dominant hand, which stacks with
the racial penalty for having pincers.

Bullet Proof Hide
(EX)

Counts as 2 Gifts

Requires Natural
Armor

Your leathery hide is dense enough to withstand even large
caliber gunshot wounds. The worst gunfire does to you is briefly deform your
skin. You gain Damage Reduction 10/- against ballistic damage, which stacks
with more general Damage Reduction when protecting against gunfire.

Chameleon Skin (EX)

Your skin, scales,
feathers or fur shift color in response to your surroundings. When motionless,
you receive a +20 racial bonus on Stealth checks. When moving at half speed or
less, this bonus is +10, and drops to +5 when moving at full speed or greater.

Clinging Climber (EX)Requires Climb speed

Like a sloth or a bat, you can hang
effortlessly from a branch or perch, even while dead asleep. As long as you
don’t move, climbing ceases to be an action, so you can perform it even while
asleep, stunned or otherwise unable to act. You can always take 10 on Climb
checks.

Damn Tough (EX)

The Anthro has fast-clotting blood
and organs that can take a real pounding and keep working. The Anthro
automatically stabilizes and treats ability score drain as temporary ability
score damage instead.

Elemental Fury (SU) Can be taken as 1 Gift or 2 Gifts

Requires Energy Immunity (any)

Your furry body courses with potent
elemental energies. Wisps of flame dance between your fangs, or perhaps
lightning crackles down your arms and along the length of your tail.

Your natural weapon attacks gain
one of the following magical weapon properties: corrosive, flaming, frost, pleasuring*, shock or thundering. This
weapon property must match the Anthro’s Energy Immunity. For instance, an
Anthro immune to Cold will manifest frost
natural weapons.

If you take this quality as two
Gifts of Nature, your natural weapon attacks gain one fo the following magical
weapon properties instead: corrosive
burst, flaming burst, icy burst, pleasuring burst*, shocking burst. This
magic weapon property must match the Anthro’s Energy Immunity.

The player may choose either
version of this Gift more than once, applying a new energy type each time. The
Antro may choose to activate any Elemental Fury, or all Elemental Fury
abilities possessed, at any given time.

Fearless (EX) Counts as 2 Gifts

Your breed of Anthro is known and
celebrated for its courage in battle. You are immune to fear.

The Anthro receives Multiweapon Fighting as a racial bonus
feat. The Anthro’s multiple limbs provide them with a +4 racial bonus on Combat
Maneuver checks made to grapple or disarm.

This Gift of Nature can be taken more than once. Each time
you choose this ability, you gain an additional pair of functional arms (or
tendrils). This provides you with an additional +2 racial bonus on Combat
Maneuver checks made to grapple or disarm.

Anthro Traits

Traits are less powerful than
feats, obviously, but they are also less potent (or at least, much more
situational) than most Gifts of Nature. Several minor abilities present in the
original draft of Fursona have become
traits in Ultimate Fursona.

Instead of the usual limitation on
traits: that players only choose one trait from each category, you might
consider a variant rule that allows slightly more powerful Anthros. Players can
choose traits from any category they desire, but one trait must be an
extraordinary ability, and the other can be a spell-like, psi-like or
supernatural ability.

Combat Traits

Big Paws

Ability Type Extraordinary

Requires Anthro
race

You’ve got skull crushing, mighty paws like an alpha lioness
or a polar bear. You may wield weapons sized for creatures one size category
larger than your actual size category without penalty. You may wield a one
handed weapon sized for a creature your actual size as a one handed light
weapon, or a two handed weapon sized for a creature your actual size as a one
handed weapon.

Biter

Ability Type Extraordinary

Requires Anthro
race

You gain a bite attack as a secondary natural attack. This
bite inflicts piercing damage equal to the Natural Weapons (claw/hoof) line for
an Anthro your size plus ½ your STR
modifier.

Herd Instinct Ability Type Extraordinary

Requires Anthro
race

Your breed of
Anthros are herd-based prey animals who depend on others of their kind for
support. You receive a cumulative +1 racial bonus on Initiative checks (maximum
+10 bonus) for each ally with this trait within 100 ft of you.

Survival Instinct

Ability Type Extraordinary

Requires Improved
Initiative

You’ve lived this
long by being cautious and light on your feet. Once per day, you may re-roll an
Initiative check. You must accept the results of the second Initiative check,
even if it is worse then the first.

Faith Traits

Nature Sense Ability Type Extraordinary

You can smell a storm upon the wind. You receive a +8 racial
bonus on Survival checks made to predict the weather. If you have or later gain
the Scent racial trait this bonus increases to +12.

Magic Traits

Psionic Traits

Racial Traits

Blood Scent

Ability Type Extraordinary

Requires Scent
racial trait

You can sense spilt blood at incredible distances. You are
aware of the approximate distance to and general direction to any bleeding
creature within 100 ft. If both you and the bleeding creature are underwater,
the distance increases to 1 mile.

Hold Breath

Ability Type Extraordinary

Requires CON 11+

You have extraordinary lung capacity, and can hold your
breath for a number of minutes equal to your CON score before needing to make FORT
Saves to resist suffocation or
drowning.

Your natural weapon take the form of crab-like or
lobster-like pincers. Your pincers provide you with a +1 racial bonus on combat
maneuver checks made to maintain a grapple or sunder a weapon. Your pincers
limit your manual dexterity, and you suffer a

-2 racial penalty on checks involving fine manipulation.

Prehensile Tail

Ability Type Extraordinary

Requires Anthro
race

Your long tail is almost as clever as your paws! You have a
monkey-like prehensile tail or maybe a useful tentacle- elephant Anthros might
even boast a dexterous trunk. As long as your tail is free to move, you are
considered to have a free hand for the purposes of abilities such as deflect
arrows. Your prehensile tail cannot wield a weapon, but it does allow you to
retrieve a stowed item from your person as a swift action.

Prehensile Toes

Ability Type Extraordinary

You were born with a beneficial mutation that makes your
large, flat feet nearly as dexterous as your hands. You receive a +4 racial
bonus on Climb checks, and may use your feet to perform most other skill
checks, albeit at a -4 penalty due to your lack of manual dexterity.

Reproductive Traits

Reproductive traits obviously relate to the sexual lives and
reproductive strategies of various Anthro species. If you want to run a
strictly all-ages furry campaign, you can easily ignore traits of this type, or
only allow relatively innocuous traits from this category as racial or social
traits. If you want to get yiffy, include everything here.

Social Traits

Carrion Eater

Ability Type Extraordinary

Nothing’s tastier than garbage or rotting carcasses found by
the roadside. You can eat garbage, rotting or spoiled meat and similarly foul
things without risking illness. Your rough diet gives you a +2 trait bonus on FORT
Saves against ingested poisons and
food-borne diseases.

Heraldic Beast

Ability Type Extraordinary

Your anthropomorphic body is marked with the colors of your
nation or noble house. Your fur might grow in the gold and blue check of your
home city, or your tail feathers might have the check and star pattern of the
queen you serve. No matter the case, your origin and loyalties are plain to
see. Additionally, if your family coat of arms is ever divided by marriage,
elevated by royal decree, or similarly modified, your body changes to reflect
your altered status.

You have a keen instinct for heraldry and a fine memory for
coats-of-arms. You receive a +10 racial bonus on Knowledge (nobility) checks
made to recognize a specific coat of arms, personal rune, sigil or other
identifying symbol.

Shiny! Mine!!

Ability Type
Extraordinary

Requires Improved
Steal

You like nothing better than taking shinies. Your paws
especially attracted to shiny, iridescent and reflective things such as gems,
jewels or even a polished piece of tin. If the object you are stealing is
especially bright and eye-catching, as determined by the game master, you
receive a +2 luck bonus on Sleight of Hand checks or Steal combat maneuver
checks made to filch it.

Thursday, July 9, 2015

I know intellectually the Ubasti are a seriously badass concept- a 700 lb war lion that's strong enough to up-end an SUV with one good swipe of its paws.

And I know that Vic Shane made this illustration (from the upcoming Culture of Choice sourcebook) awesomely dangerous looking (you see that fucking mace strapped to his tail?). But I see this and my brain goes "KITTIES!" KITTIES!

Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Yesterday morning, I put Psi-Threats: Book One Mutant and Machine up for sale on RPGnow. This is the first in a line of short and mid-length bestiaries for the Psi-Watch Campaign Setting. Beneath the awesome Anthony Cournoyer cover, you'll find 35 pages of what's basically X-Men badguys with the serial numbers filed off for Pathfinder and Ultimate Psionics. This first sourcebook's highlights include great homages to the Sentinels, the Reavers, and...the Savage Dragon. I'm already working on Book Two, which will focus on psychic soldiers and special operatives for the various Psi-Watch factions.

Next up. What would you say to a completely revised, one book version of Fursona? The Pathfinder adaptation of Battlechangers got me thinking of new ways to build Anthro characters: more flexibility, no ever-expanding list of Orders. I started playing around with the Gravity Cats from Galaxy Command/Heavy Future, and came up with a revised Shipper player race. I'm thinking that when I eventually do revise Fursona, I'll rebuild Anthros in-line with the design philosophy you see here.

Take a look.

Shipper

Medium
Humanoid (anthro)

“Shippers” is common slang for a
myriad of interfertile semi-animalistic aliens with no clear home world or
point of origins. Many Shippers hail from worlds either conquered or
annihilated outright during the Great Galactic Darkness, or worlds that were
lost to the relentless march of the Imperial
Church of the Galaxy’s anti-anthro
pogroms.

Shippers have organized themselves
in a loose confederacy of generation ships and hollowed-out asteroid habitats
as a matter of necessity. They survive as stellar nomads, trading service for
passage, or occasionally, provisional citizenship. Mostly though, they ply the
stellar trade routes, drifting between cold and distant stars, seeking their
fortunes.

Appearance

Shippers are an assortment of
anthropomorphic hominids, ranging in size from petite rodent-derived species
that barely top 4.5 ft to massive ursiods and capricornoids that are 7.5 ft
walls of muscle, fur and horn. The most numerous ethnic blocs within the
Shipper confederacy seem to be derived from rodent-evolved or felinoid stock.

The various Shipper races are
interfertile and often omni-fertile, suggesting either some common ancestry or
genetic tinkering sometime in the distant past. As a result, details like fur
and eye configuration, cranial shape, tail length and texture, the presence of
horns, crests and other display appendages seems to vary wildly among
individuals. Thanks to recessive genes, a family of grey-pelted lapine-derived
Shippers might occasionally give birth to a larger than normal kit with crimson
and gold tiger striping.

The one commonality among Shippers
is their dress: space-worthy and highly practical. Shippers usually wear
armored jump suits and custom fitted space suits designed around a rack of
antlers or a long, semi-prehensile tail. They tend to carry everything they own
neatly rolled up in an engineer’s bedroll or slid into one of their many
jumpsuit pockets.

Homeworld

Shippers are a space born race. The
species has no homeworld- some Shipper races lack any curiosity or nostalgia
for their lost homeworlds. Others have mythologized what they have lost as ancestral
paradise- a destroyed heaven for anthropomorphics of their genotype.

Shippers were forced to become galactic gypsies, who survive
by selling their services (as everything from astronautics technicians to
prostitutes to mercenaries) to the major stellar empires. Traveling in enormous
ark ships carved from planetoids and ancient star cruisers, Shippers have
crossed and re-crossed the Milky Way, and have visited every major planetary
port of call.

Shipper society is based around the ark; the citizens of a
single ark are considered part of a single extended family, regardless of their
evolutionary lineage. These ‘ark families’ can include well over a hundred
thousand Shippers, all unified in a quest for resources, profit and glory. Rivalries
between ark ships can be deadly, especially when the clans are competing for
scarce resources or some juicy contract.

Sex, Drugs and Violence

Shippers are an earthy, sexual
people, with few sexual taboos. Most of their taboos are fairly common-sense
prohibitions against crimes like rape and incest, rather than complex ethical
prohibitions. Public displays of affection are not frowned on, and given the
cramped conditions aboard most arcs, most Shippers politely look the other way
if a neighbor is rutting.

The various Shipper lineages are
interfertile, and many Shippers are pan-racial. Breeding outside the lineage is
encouraged, as unexpected new genetic combinations that prove viable have the
potential to uplift the race as a hole. Pregnancy and birth is celebrated among
Shippers, and many arks are hotbeds of eugenic experimentation, as various
Shippers strive to find the perfect mix of bloodlines. Complex, often
polyamorous relationships that bind several allied crews are the norm.

Shipper pregnancies tend to last
between six months and a year, and depending on the creatures involved, might
produce a single birth, a litter of dozens of kits, or anything in between.
Miscarriages and infant mortality are slightly higher than the galactic norm;
given their genetic diversity, not every new Shipper mutation is a positive
one. Lifespan tends to be commiserate with the Human Diaspora, though there
both positive and negative exceptions.

Politics & Culture

Shippers hold a culture-wide
loathing for the bigots of the ICG elite and have a deep suspicion of even
everyday ICG faithful. The ICG has spent centuries trying to annihilate any
blending of humanoid and animal, something they consider anathema, and many
older Shippers can recite the names of ship-mates and friends lost to an ICG
kill squad.

Despite this, Shippers will
sometime do piecework for the ICG, if their ark can’t find a better contract
somewhere. They don’t like it, and the ICG are bastards to work for, but in
desperate times, the Shippers will grudgingly do it.

Shippers are on better terms with a
variety of galactic factions, but aren’t truly trusted by anyone. Many Free
Spacers have intermarried into Shipper arcs and vice versa. The race gets along
well with the similarly space-based Proximites. In any port of call, anywhere
in the dirty galaxy, you’ll find three races above all else: humans, Proximites
and Shippers.

Names

Shipper names translate colorfully into Galactic Common. The
aliens place a great deal of importance on family, and each ark family tends to
earn a reputation based upon its members’ exploits. Individual Shippers are
more likely to be stereotyped based upon their ark of origin then they are by
their species as a whole. There isn’t much difference between male and female
Shipper names.

Shippers begin play speaking a
trade language common to all arks, called Shipper
Patois and Galactic Common. Shippers
with high INT scores can choose any language
as a bonus language, except for secret languages like Druidic.

Shipper Racial Traits

All Shippers share the following
racial traits.

Size and Type

Shippers are Medium Humanoids with
the anthro and psionic subtypes. As Medium creatures, Shippers receive no
bonuses or penalties due to their size.

Ability Score Modifiers

+2
to any ability score of choice

Shippers are a diverse collection
of species, with many unique aptitudes and racial gifts. Like humans, they are
resistant to pigeonholing.

Normal Speed (EX)
Shippers have a base land speed of 30 ft.

Evolutionary Ability
(EX) Shippers have many powers, unique to their animal breeds. Each Shipper
selects one ability from the following menu of extraordinary racial abilities.
Once chosen, this gift cannot be changed, as they reflect the Shipper’s
lineage.

Armored Hide (EX): The
Shipper gains a +4 natural armor bonus to AC.

Bestial Senses (EX):The Shipper gains a +2 racial
bonus on Perception checks to notice animate creatures or objects. They receive
a check to notice movement whenever it happens within 50 ft of them, whether or
now they are actively looking.

Metabolism (EX) Shippers are derived from an assortment of animal species, which defines
their natural gifts. Most important among the distinctions between Shippers is
their preferred feeding strategy. Choose one metabolism at character creation,
which determines many of the Shipper’s traits (as well as the diet they demand
from shipboard food replicators.)

Scavenger:
Shipper scavengers gain the Scent special quality and receive a +4 racial bonus
on FORT Saves
against disease and poison. Scavengers can eat carrion, rotting meat or garbage
and derive nutrition without ill effects.

Natural Weapons (EX)

All Shippers possess some form of natural weapon, provided
by evolution.

Shippers receive two natural weapon attacks as primary
natural attack forms. These either take the form of two claw attacks that
inflict 1d6 + STR modifier points of
slashing damage (20/x2) or two hoof stomps that inflict 1d6 + STR
modifier points of bludgeoning damage (20/x2).

Alternatively, the Shipper can select a single gore attack
that inflicts 1d10 + STR modifier points of
damage (20/x3) in the case of horned (rhinoceros) or antlered (deer, elk)
derived Shipper species.

Lowlight Vision (EX) Shippers possess lowlight vision.

Skilled Spacer (EX)
Shippers are well adapted to life in space, and are most comfortable aboard a
starship. They’re damn good spacers, the equal of any human Free Spacer or
Proximite techie.

Shippers receive Zero G Training as
a racial bonus feat. Shippers receive a +2 racial bonus on Pilot checks and
Computer Use checks made to control shipboard systems.

Shippers Alternate Racial Traits

Shippers aren’t a single, monolithic species. Instead, this
motley assortment of anthro spacers represents the infinite diversity of shapes
that intelligent life can take in the galaxy.

Cosmopolitan (EX)
Replaces: Skilled Spacer

Shippers have a natural gift for languages and enjoy
encountering new cultures: first contact is always a joyous occasion for these
spacers.

She shipper begins play speaking 1d4+1 additional bonus
languages, in addition to languages she earns for having a high INT
modifier. The Shipper gains a bonus rank in Linguistic and a new language known
each time she levels up.

Master Pilot (EX)

Replaces: Skilled
Spacer

There’s nobody better behind the controls of a star fighter
than a Shipper pilot: after all, there’s a good reason they call it
‘dog-fighting’, right? The Shipper is treated as having the Improved Initiative
feat when at the controls of any spacecraft. If the Shipper already has this
feat, the effects stack.

Naturally Psionic (EX)

Replaces: Either
Evolutionary Ability or Skilled Spacer

The Shipper gains Wild Talent as a racial bonus feat. If she
later takes levels in a psionic class, she gains Psionic Talent instead.
Whenever the Shipper gains a new level, she may choose to gain an additional
power point rather than a bonus skill point or Hit Point.

Skilled Engineer (EX)
Replaces: Skilled Spacer

The Shipper spends her time on the engineering decks rather
than the bridge, fixing and jury-rigging, rather than piloting.

The Shipper receives Zero G Training as a racial bonus feat.
The Shipper receives a +2 racial bonus on all Craft checks made to repair or
upgrade a space vessel’s systems.

Station Sense (EX)

Replaces: Lowlight
Vision

When aboard a space station, starship, or other large
enclosed environment (such as a submarine), the Shipper attunes herself to the
subtle vibrations of the engine and ever-present hum of life support. When in
an environmentally sealed vehicle or environment, Shippers gain tremorsense with a 60 ft radius.

Telepathic Shipper (SU)
Replaces: Natural Weapons, adds subtype

Several Shipper breeds have evolved innate telepathic gifts,
the better to bridge the communication gaps between the various Shipper
lineages. The Shipper gains telepathy 100 ft and gains the psionic subtype.

Final business?
Andrew, I read your suggestions for some APEX spells in the comments of a previous post, and dig your ideas. If you want to write the sourcebook, drop me an email. You've got some cool ideas, man.
chrisfieldotherverse@hotmail.com

About Me

Freelance Game Designer Since 2005:
Founder of Otherverse Games,
Author of Otherverse America, Psi-Watch, Galaxy Command, Black Tokyo, Pirates of the Bronze Sky (LPJ Designs), Against the Darkness (Table Top Adventures) and other innovative and unusual role playing games.